Hello my lovely readers! I'm super sorry I haven't posted in months! I tried really hard to keep posting the chapters that I already had written during the semester, but dang it, if grad school isn't just tough. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me! Thanks again to AquaTurquoise, Artemismk, and now Jettmanas for all your reviews and critiques. They help immensely! I will try and resume regular weekly updates from now at least until February. Hopefully by then, we'll all be caught up and this story will be complete! Enough of me rambling though.

Enjoy!

Chapter 30: She Would

Miranda stopped and looked back at the rest of the group and noticed that Cedric was nowhere to be found. "Sofia!" she called.

Roland stopped a few paces ahead of her as the other soldiers who were escaping passed them. "What's wrong, Miranda?" he asked, somewhat winded.

"I don't see Cedric, and Sofia didn't answer when I called," she explained, breathing in short gasps of air as her eyes widened with panic.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she's around here somewhere. Sofia!" Roland called.

"Sofia! If you can hear me, take off your cloak!" Miranda yelled. When neither of them heard nor saw their daughter. They exchanged perturbed glances. "Rollie, we have to find her!"

"Maybe she already made it to the village," Roland suggested, trying to keep his wife from completely freaking out.

Miranda took a few calming breaths. "Yes, maybe you're right, we should hurry and check!"

Roland nodded and the couple took off running, calling for Sofia along the way. It was lucky the village to the North was so close by, and it only took them a few minutes to get to there. They went immediately to the medical tent that was set up, hoping to find their daughter there; they had told her that if they got separated to go there so they could find her later.

"Excuse me," Miranda said to a passing nurse. "Have you seen Sofia?"

The blonde woman shook her head. "Sorry your Majesty. I haven't seen her."

"Jenny! Where is that pain potion?" came the voice of a very uncomfortable Lieutenant Daniel.

"It's right here, relax you big baby," she teased, lifting a curtain and disappearing into the room.

Miranda glanced around frantically, looking for any sign of either Cedric or her daughter. She figured if she found him, Sofia wouldn't be far behind. "Do you see her Rollie?" she asked, still scanning the room.

"I don't. Maybe we can ask around the village; see if anyone has seen her."

"Good idea. Let's go."

"Sofia!" Roland called. "Oh, I'm sorry, miss," he said, accidently bumping into an older woman in the busy market square. "You haven't happened to have seen a little girl, about this tall with brown hair, blue eyes, and a purple coat, have you?" he asked, stooping slightly.

The woman merely shook her head and kept on walking. "Oh, well, thank you anyway," he called, waving to the woman's back. Roland furrowed his brow and scanned the crowd. "Ah!" he blurted out as he strode over to a rather stout man with black hair and a thick handlebar mustache who was managing a fruit stand. "Excuse me, sir, have you seen a little girl with brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a purple coat?"

"Not unless you look for my daughter," said the man in a deep, thick accent as he handed a customer some change. A little girl, probably about six-years-old, popped up from behind the counter, and grinned at Roland, displaying a gap-toothed smile.

"Somvun looking for me?" the girl chirped, popping the 'g' at the end of the word. She then hopped up on a stool that must have been behind the counter so she was not so separated from eye level of the two tall adult men.

Roland smiled and chuckled warmly at the charming girl. "No, but thank you anyways," He waved to the duo and began walking away.

"Ey, vait, Mister!"

Roland stopped and turned his attention back to the pair.

"Ve'll keep eye out for her, papa, von't ve?" The girl looked expectantly at her father.

"Of course, rybka," he said, his mustache turning up slightly making his smile known. "If ve hear or see anything, ve'll let you know."

Roland smiled at the pair and gave a grateful nod. "Thank you. Her name is Sofia and she always wears…Nevermind. She's about this tall and is probably walking around with a man in a long, purple robe." He was going to say that she always wears an amulet, but sadly, that was gone now.

"This purple robed man, he's not eh, vhat is vord? Dangerous, is he?"

Roland smiled and shook his head. "No, he's my daughter's mentor and teacher, but we got separated and my wife and I are looking for her."

"Don't vorry, Mister; if I see her, I vill let my papa know!" the little girl declared as she saluted Roland.

"Thank you very much."

"Papa, I can go around town and tell people this man is looking for young girl like me, da?" asked the girl, tuggin onto her father's arm.

"All right, but stay out of alley," ordered the girl's father gently.

"Da, papa, spasibo!" she chirped as she pecked his cheek, hopped down from her stool, and then scampered away.

Roland smiled at the man and extended his hand to him. "Thanks again, sir, my name is Roland, by the way."

"Ilya. If you don't find your daughter by night, my daughter, Sasha, vill have whole town looking for her." He grinned under his mustache.

"I'll let you know if we end up finding her. Thanks again!" Roland waved to the man as he jogged over to his wife.

Miranda was in the middle of the square, standing on a large wooden box, scanning the crowd. "Any luck?" Roland asked.

"No," Miranda sighed, stepping down from the box. "I can't find her anywhere, and no one has seen her! Rollie, we just found her! And now we've lost her again!" she cried, panic raising in her tone.

"Don't talk like that. She's probably with Cedric, and I'm sure we'll find her soon. I just spoke with one of the fruit vendors, and he and his daughter say they're going to let people know to look for her and will find us if they hear or see anything. Maybe we should find Birk; perhaps he'll know where she's gone."

Miranda looked up at him with worry in her eyes, but nodded as she sighed. "I'm just so worried, Rollie! I can't lose her again!" she cried, slumping into his chest.

Roland wrapped his arms around her and pressed his cheek against her head. "I know. I feel the same way, but we have to keep looking for her; she can't have wandered far."

The couple made their way back to the medical tent where they found Birk laughing with a woman who was laying in a cot. A baby boy huddled into his neck and a girl who looked hardly older than a toddler, girl sitting on his lap and laughing along with them. "Oh! Roland, Miranda! I'm glad you're here! This is Anya, my wife, and my two children, Anastassia and Ian." The man beamed.

The king and queen each gave a respectful nod to the family. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Roland smiled kindly at the woman and her children.

"Sorry to interrupt, but you haven't seen Sofia, have you?" Miranda asked.

The little girl buried her head in her father's chest as the little boy perked his head up and looked at the queen. Birk looked at Anya, who shrugged and shook her head. Birk then turned his attention back to the royal couple. "Sorry, we haven't seen her. She's not still invisible, is she?"

"We don't know. If she came here, she'd know to take the cloak off, but we know if she's anywhere, she's probably with Cedric. We were hoping that if we could find him, we could find her, but that hasn't worked either." Miranda's gaze fell slightly as concern filled her expression.

Birk was silent for a moment and stopped his leg from bouncing Anastassia. "You don't think…she'd go back to the castle, would she?" he asked, furrowing his brow.

"Why in the world would she go back? What good would that do?" Miranda accidently snapped.

Birk shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, but isn't she always rushing off to try and help fix whatever problem gets in her way?"

Roland and Miranda stared at each other with a wide eyed look of horror. "She—she wouldn't, not without her Amulet… would she?" Roland asked.

Birk just shrugged again as the adults exchanged concerned silent, glances.